Ferguson, Missouri: People Take to the Streets After Police Kill 18-Year-Old Michael Brown

Saturday, August 9, 2014. It was the middle of the afternoon and dozens of people saw it happen. Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were walking home from the store. Johnson told news reporters:

“We wasn’t causing any harm to nobody. We had no weapons on us at all.”

18-year-old Michael Brown was walking down a street with a friend when he was fatally shot 8 times by cops. Photo: Justice for Michael Brown Facebook page.

Johnson says the two were walking in the street when a cop rolled up on them and told them to get out of the street. They kept walking and the officer got out of the car and fired a shot. Johnson said they were scared and started to run away. Then:

“He shot again and once my friend felt that shot he turned around and he put his hands in the air and he started to get down but the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and he fired several more shots.”

Many other witnesses said Brown was unarmed and had his hands up in the air when he was shot and killed.

18-year-old Michael Brown had just graduated from high school and was scheduled to begin classes at Vatterott College on Monday. His grandmother, Desiree Harris, said she had just seen her grandson walking on the street and then minutes later, after hearing a commotion, she went outside and found his body on the ground less than two blocks away. Harris said, “When I got up there, my grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn't tell me nothing.”

The police left Michael Brown’s body on the street for hours. Angry crowds started gathering immediately.

The Ferguson police force called in police assistance from surrounding areas—more than 100 officers from 15 departments responded, including tactical teams in riot gear. Dogs were used against people.

Ferguson is a small suburb just north of St. Louis with a population of about 21,000 people, two-thirds of them African Americans.

One news report said: “Through the afternoon and evening some among the crowds were yelling profanities at police demanding justice. At one point gun shots rang out in the area as investigators gathered evidence. That prompted numerous police canine units to move in and move the crowds back. At least one trash dumpster was set on fire.”

Up to 600 people confronted the police immediately after Michael Brown's murder. His stepfather held a sign that said 'Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!' People continued the protests the next day. Photo: AP

Calls for justice spread quickly through the Internet—Brown’s name trended on Twitter for several hours, along with hash tags such as #Justice for Mike. Several “Justice for Mike” pages popped up on Facebook as well, with one page amassing several hundred “likes” per hour as of Sunday afternoon. Another Facebook attracted nearly 4,000 likes.

On Sunday morning, protesters outside the Ferguson Police Department's headquarters raised their hands in the air and chanted, "Don't shoot." Crowds of hundreds of people marched through the streets that morning and afternoon. Michael Brown's stepfather, Louis Head, held a sign that read: “Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!”

*****

Another stolen life. Another young Black man cut down in cold blood by the police. Another outrage by this system that has no future for millions of Black youth, except prison, unemployment, poverty, police brutality, and murder.